Biozentrum researchers have now discovered that Escherichia coli bacteria harness a sophisticated chemosensory and signal transduction machinery that allows them to accurately control motor rotation, thereby adjusting their swimming velocity in response to changing environments. The research re...
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Essential oils could be a cheap and effective alternative to antibiotics and potentially used to combat drug-resistant hospital superbugs, according to research presented at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting in Edinburgh.

Dr. Rita Colwell, an expert on the prevention of waterborne infectious diseases, has been awarded the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize, widely recognized as the world's premier award for water related research or policy work.

The prize, which includes a $150,000 award and a crystal sculpture, honor...
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Vaccination rates for the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus have varied widely around the country, with New England having the highest vaccination rates and the South having the lowest, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Rodent of the Week is devoted to highlighting promising animal research. We shine this little spotlight on animal research because, typically, it's an area we tend to ignore. While often fascinating, animal studies are conducted at such an early stage in the research process that it's irresponsi...
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Argentinian investigators have found flamingos and mysterious microbes living in a salty, alkaline lagoon nestled inside a volcano in the Andes. The organisms, exposed to arsenic and poisonous gases, could shed light on how life began on Earth, and their hardiness to extreme conditions may hold ...
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The epidemiology of H. pylori infection is characterized by marked differences between developing and developed countries, notably among children. In addition, congruent lines of evidence point out to socioeconomic factors and living standards as main determinants of the age-dependent acquisitio...
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The recent discovery of contaminating porcine circovirus 1 DNA in Rotarix underscores the power of deep sequencing to ensure the purity of viral vaccines. The price of deep sequencing is now low enough that it is possible to use this technology to examine not just viral vaccines, but any biologi...
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As if I needed another reason to hate mosquitoes, thankfully the ones that transmit Dengue fever don't hang around the DC Metro area much. Guess this just proves that old say - "the bacterium enemy of my viral enemy is my friend" - even truer than it was before.

The U.S. Air Force burns through 2.4 billion gallons of jet fuel a year, all of it derived from oil. But a test flight on March 25 just might allow a flowering weed known as camelina to replace petroleum as part of the military's energy mix. An A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft took flight from Elgi...
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You might expect young women scientists to make less than older men. But veteran female life science researchers, even in very advanced positions, still make less than their male counterparts. So finds a report in the journal Academic Medicine. [See http://bit.ly/9C7nlF]

Some medications already being used to treat HIV appear to inhibit a retrovirus that has been linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome, reports a new study published online April 1 in PLoS ONE.

When Bacillus subtilis gets the chance, it establishes thick, gluey biofilms held together by a matrix of exopolysaccharides and protein. Once cells sense that there’s enough extracellular matrix, they switch over to sporulating and tend to localize themselves in aerial protrusions so they can ...
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